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Mosaic Musings...interactive poetry reviews _ Fixed Form and Rhyming Poetry for Critique -> Herme's Homilies _ City Boy

Posted by: Larry Aug 16 17, 13:58

City Boy

Bouncing like an underinflated ball,
I sat on the old Farmall tractor seat
towing a bush hog through grass that’s too tall
for push or riding mowers to compete.

Leaving rows that could be turned into hay
if one were to possess a good baler,
which I don’t; I made use of them all day
for guidance like I was a poor sailor

lost at sea. Getting sweaty and too hot
to continue; my inexperience
at any farm work showed that I was not
the person for that job and ever since,

I’ll let Mother Nature take her own course
while I watch grasses grow without remorse.

Posted by: Ali zonak Aug 16 17, 18:37

[quote name='Larry' date='Aug 16 17, 14:58 ' post='148276']
City Boy

Howdy, Larry: I don't usually write mixed meter verses because I hate being called on the carpet for an unevenness, but every once in a while I practice what an old sage (who shall remain unnamed) had told me: "Variations are allowed in metric verse. Iambs and trochees may be interchanged in alternate lines; even an unaccented word is permitted like a musical grace note played on the piano. However, the dominant foot should be there to justify the name given to the verse. Yet, without some fluctuation, the constant “ta TUM ta TUM” would make the reading of a poem monotonous." That's why composers stick grace notes into their compositions.
And that is why I can appreciate your Sonnet. Well done, actually. Take care,
Ali

Posted by: Larry Aug 16 17, 22:12

Hi Ali,

Thanks for stopping by for a read. Glad you liked (?) my little adventure in a very bumpy poem. This is drawn from an actual occurrence about 2 weeks ago. I wanted to write something about my experience (after about 50 years) but didn't want it to be nice and even because, as you may know, a ride across a field in a tractor seat is anything but nice and even. Very bumpy and sometimes even jarring, therefore the poem.

I'm usually a stickler for metrical precision and so found it difficult to write without falling back into IP which you know most sonnets are of that ilk. It was a lot more fun writing it than riding the tractor.

Larry

p.s. You might have missed my answer to the "Lighthouse" challenge. It is a true sonnet in IP and is a tribute to all the Lighthouses on all the shores.